Hyperbole is an important component in the sports writer’s toolbox, but it is often overused. Very occasionally, it cannot be overused — literally. Did Laura Wolvaardt complete one of the greatest World Cup campaigns of all time on Sunday, men or women? Yes.
The Protea Women lost the final to hosts India by 52 runs, but it was “closer” than that. Captain Wolvaardt followed her once-in-a-lifetime 169 in the semifinal win against England with 101 from 98 balls in the final to keep her team alive, having slipped to 148/5 in pursuit of India’s 298/7 in the final. She became the first player to score centuries in the final two knockout matches in a World Cup.
It wasn’t just her runs. Her leadership was tactically astute on the field and cheekily, occasionally brilliantly, calm off it. Her “up” and “down” moments, in public, after some glorious wins and a few wretched losses, could have been separated by the bleeps on a life-support machine.
In the years to come, when women’s cricket is commanding genuinely significant worldwide viewership, attracting crowds to justify the use of major venues and generating revenue that occupies a massive slice of the pie chart at national and international levels, the 2025 World Cup will be remembered as the turning point towards parity with the men’s game.
Just as women’s tennis, golf, football and — to a lesser degree, rugby — have taken giant strides in recent years towards real equality, cricket has hit the fast forward button in the past month. It hasn’t just taken a month, obviously, but that’s how it looks and feels to the millions of viewers who have watched the matches with commitment for the first time.
For many fans, their attention was readily drawn — World Cups tend to do that — but so many have found themselves fully engaged for the first time, for long periods. It’s not just SA cricket lovers, or males, who have treated women’s cricket like the IPL: good on the TV in the background but not compulsive viewing. It was different this time.
Authoritative research has revealed for years that, while patronising attitudes exist within professional sport and its media and broadcasting partners, all of which are still dominated by men, the “sexism” argument is significantly supplemented by female followers of sport (of a certain age) who are not as attracted by the female versions of sports they have watched men playing.
Most sports watchers are attracted by the moments of dynamism and brilliance in a game — often involving speed and strength — which provide them with “wow” moments because they are so far removed from their own range of physical ability. Postmatch polls among all cricket watchers, not just new ones, confirm that they recall sixes and fast bowlers’ wickets far more readily than anything else.
The bowler who delivers an over that costs just two runs at a critical stage of the match to turn the contest in his team’s favour often does more than a few sixes to win the match, but human nature is human nature. They will have to be sustained by the acclaim of their teammates rather than the viewers or crowd.
The number of “wow” moments in the women’s game has reached its tipping point, and there’s no going back. A few international teams are still catching up in the biokinetic development of players, but as far as the “big four” go, Australia, India, England and SA boast half a dozen players each capable of glueing bums on seats when they are performing, especially at vital moments in a match.
This hasn’t just happened by paying professionals and making them do more net sessions. It has required a deep change of mindset from the players themselves. Perhaps there will always be a slight diffidence and awkwardness in talking about women’s size and shape, even among women, and maybe that’s not a bad thing.
But the conditioning of many of the current Proteas squad, with Wolvaardt and the world’s best all-rounder, Marizanne Kapp, to the fore, would put a large percentage of male cricketers to shame.
People have been saying for years that they deserve more attention and acclaim. Sod that. Now, they have grabbed it. And won’t be giving it back soon.
